The Great Freeze of '63
by Lancelotlaureate
Summary: During the worst winter in years, Ian and Barbara have to spend the night at Coal Hill School.


"Not gone yet?" Ian said as he peered around the doorframe of Barbara's classroom in the same way he did most evenings when they were working late.

She turned around to face him and smiled wearily. "No, I'm just trying to get a bit of marking finished. If I leave it until I get home I'll only get distracted by the television."

In the dim light of the corridor she recognised how handsome he looked in his suit and tie, noticing how his tie usually became more untidy as the day progressed though it didn't make him look any less well-groomed. And though he was dressed smartly she couldn't help but laugh at the five o'clock shadow on his face from a day without shaving.

"I shouldn't think anything could distract you," he said as he took a careful glance at her. She was always so focused and well put together, wearing a smart outfit with well polished shoes, but after a long day even Barbara had managed to get a ladder in her tights and a chalk smudge on her skirt

"Well, you're distracting me now," she said with a teasing smile.

"So I am. Sorry, I'm meant to be finishing up too. The bursar gave me the key. Everyone's gone, so it's just us. Not really surprised with this weather- looks like we're the only two strong enough to brave the blizzard."

Barbara looked out of the window and seemed surprised by the weather as though it was the first time she'd noticed its severity. "The only two stupid enough, maybe. Well, it does look pretty bad. I'll finish this last pile of marking and then I'll get going."

The extreme winter weather had been persistent over the last month and the snow had only gotten worse, causing major disruptions on the roads and railway lines in particular and causing general misery in every aspect of day to day life for the majority of the general population. The day hadn't seemed too bad when Barbara had made her way to the school, she'd even ranted at her mother that closing the school down for yet another day wasn't go to do anyone any favours. She'd been wrong of course; she could see that now as she looked at the white drops battering the window with more force than she'd considered. The teachers decided against the idea of staying at home like the children had been instructed that morning, and by the afternoon the staff had all headed home too, not much work to do and bored with no pupils to teach. Of course Ian and Barbara had been the exception to that rule and stayed despite the warnings.

"I've not seen the weather like this in quite some time," Barbara said softly, as if she was being enticed to experience the dreamlike quality of the snowstorm outside. "This winter certainly has been a shock."

Ian smiled and sat down beside her, closing the cover of her book. "I think maybe we should get going and leave the rest until we get home."

She sighed. She knew he was right but she had little desire to plan her lessons at home with all the distractions. The weather was a bit of a pain to her too. She always got her best work done at the school when everybody else had gone home and she was too stubborn to leave early because of something simple like the snow. She hated to admit she was defeated.

…

"I can't open the door," Ian said as he and Barbara stood by the exit door of the school, wrapped up in their winter coats and hats, ready to brace the freezing temperatures and near blizzard outside. Barbara shot him an unimpressed look.

"Don't play jokes now, Ian. I'm not in the mood. It looks dreadful out there."

"Barbara, I'm serious." He gave the door another shove but it failed to budge. "Its wedged shut. There must be a pile of snow out there blocking us in. It looks dreadful indeed but we can't get out."

Barbara tugged on the door handle and pulled with all her might as though she didn't quite believe him, or more didn't want to. "Oh what a nuisance! Well, what about the back entrance, it couldn't have snowed that much since the others went home?"

"I'm afraid the back door is covered too. I checked that one before this one. It's been snowing solid for the last few hours and it seems we didn't consider our paths being blocked. Besides," he said looking out of the glass window beside the entrance. "It's coming down far too heavy. Perhaps it'd be safer if we stayed here anyway."

"Overnight?"

"Well it'll take a job to get the door open and then there's trying to drive in this. We can't even see the road."

Barbara sighed and then took off her coat, holding it in her arms. "Well I suppose a little war time spirit can't hurt us. We'll find a warm classroom, get some supplies and ride it out. The bomb shelters were quite a home to me for a while during The Blitz."

He smiled. "I know what you mean. Shame there wasn't a rule about bombing at the most inconvenient times eh? One time I remember I was having a lovely dinner and my mum was dragging me out the door to the Anderson shelter. By the time the raid was over the food was stone cold."

She looked at him and laughed. "Oh Ian what a funny thing to say. Come on, I'll go to the staff room and fetch some food and drink. You go and make sure we have heat and light and something comfy to sit on."

"Yes captain," Ian said as he ventured into the opposite direction. "Meet back at my classroom in twenty minutes."

…

When Barbara arrived at Ian's science laboratory at the time they'd agreed upon, Ian was sitting at his work bench boiling water in a beaker over the flame of a Bunsen burner. He smiled when she entered and kicked out a seat for her to sit on. Next to him she noticed he had a torch, some candles and matches and various other supplies.

"What's this for?" Barbara asked, pointing at the beaker sitting on the top of wire gauze upon a metal tripod over the flame. "Are we doing a science lesson?"

"Cup of tea?"

Barbara laughed. Ian Chesterton was certainly a man of practicality she thought to herself as she watched him pour the water into the two cups she had brought in with tea leaves already in them ready for the warm beverage. Tea was always the first thing to have when you were in a crisis. "You know there's a kettle in the staff room?"

"Not as fun though." His smile was wide and a little bit cheeky, almost like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't.

Barbara knew Ian could be a teasing man, but she'd had little experience in seeing him as relaxed and playful as he was at this moment- she'd only known him a few months since she'd started at the school and they'd only had conversations during lunch-breaks and after school but nothing deeper than that.

"Ah so what supplies did you rustle up?" Ian asked.

"I got bread, butter, some cakes, biscuits, and I found a tin of soup. No tin opener I'm afraid so that's really not much use."

He gave her a sly smile. "You have to be more practical in these situations, we shall have soup don't you worry."

Ian walked over to his desk drawer, pulled out a key from his jacket pocket and unlocked it. He rummaged around for a moment and then pulled out a penknife. "I confiscated this from Jeffrey Arnold last week."

He took the knife and cut into the tin until at last it was open. He then poured the soup into another empty beaker and placed it over the burner.

"We're like two little cub scouts." She laughed. "I managed to get bourbon biscuits as I know you like them."

"I bring them in for me and often they're all gone by the time lunchtime is over."

Barbara took a sip of her tea and let out a satisfied sigh. "Well it's not so bad but I think we need somewhere to sit other than these benches."

"I have that covered. Look over there. I went to the P.E department and got some gym mats. I thought we could use them to rest on."

Barbara smiled. "Good idea. I thought maybe we could get some blankets too. There's bound to be some that the girls have sewn in needlework lessons. I got the cakes from a few left behind in the domestic science room too."

Ian screwed up his face. "I'm not sure that makes them edible."

"The girls worked very hard on them. Mrs Palmer told me some of them are going to make quite good cooks. You of course would know how hard cooking was if you'd ever had to do it."

Ian let out a belly laugh. He was always secretly excited when Barbara told him off, and enjoyed the banter they shared when they were debating issues and teasing one another.

"Why do I need to cook when my landlady Mrs Russell takes such good care of me?" he chuckled to himself and then glanced at Barbara's disapproving face. "Don't worry; I'm sure I'll pick up a few tips at some point. I don't intend to rely on a girlfriend or wife for everything."

"I should hope not."

"I'm actually pretty self reliant in most respects but cooking has always got the better of me."

"I'm sure Mrs Palmer would be glad for you to sit in with the girls one afternoon. And I'm sure the girls would like that too."

"And I'm sure I wouldn't."

They both laughed. Ian poured the warm soup into two more cups and then looked carefully at her. "Speaking of my landlady, I probably should phone her and let her know I won't be home."

"Does she worry about you?"

"You know what, I think she does strangely. She's away from her own son. He's away doing national service. I think she's mothering me quite a lot of the time."

"She does know you're no longer even in your twenties?"

"Yeah, but it's nice to have someone to worry about where I am."

There was awkward silence for a moment. "I hadn't thought," Barbara suddenly said. "My mother said she might stop by tonight. I hope she hasn't tried to because it's far too dreadful for her to go out in this weather. I ought to ring her and let her know I'm alright."

"There's a phone in the office," Ian said. "You go first if you like."

…

"Was your landlady worried?" Barbara asked as Ian returned from his telephone call.

Ian sat down beside her on one of the gym mats. "She was wondering where I'd got to and she seems to agree it was a good idea to stay. She doesn't think it's appropriate for the two of us alone together but she's an old fashioned woman."

"I'm not sure we had much choice in the matter but if it helps, my mother said the exact same thing."

"Mothers always worry we're going to seduce their daughters," Ian chuckled as he put another bourbon biscuit into his mouth.

"But I know that you're not."

"Not what?" he said as crumbs tumbled out of his lips, forgetting where the conversation had headed.

"Seduce me?"

"Oh. Well, no of course not. I'm more of a courter than a seducer if I'm honest."

"Good. Could you move over to your own mat please, Ian?"

He looked down at how close he'd sat next to her unintentionally, and with an awkward smile he shuffled away to the adjacent mat. He then handed her one of the blankets from the crafts room. "It's getting chilly. Shame we couldn't figure out the radiators eh?"

Barbara wrapped the blanket around her body. "I think that caretaker locked us in on purpose."

"Still, it's an adventure and its good company. We don't get to live many adventures at our age do we?"

"Oh we certainly don't. Perhaps 1963 will change that, perhaps we've entered a new year of possibilities."

Ian sighed. "Possibility of a few more months of snow maybe. I never expected such an awful winter. I don't think I've ever seen so much of the white stuff in my whole life. And all the chaos that goes with it, its clear England is not built for this kind of weather."

"England isn't built for any kind of weather except drizzle."

"You weren't here when we had that storm last year. Thunder and lightning there was and pupils hiding under their desks and getting carried away scaring each other."

"I'm sorry I missed it. Was the school any different before I arrived?"

Ian smiled. "Yes it wasn't nearly as sophisticated."

"How do you mean? Was it in need of repair?"

"I meant the staff, you arriving."

Barbara smiled shyly. She was flattered by the comment but she wasn't sure where Ian got the impression that she was more sophisticated than the other teachers at the school. She supposed Ian assumed that because she preferred to read a book than go to the pub, that her level of sophistication and class were higher, of course it meant nothing and just simply meant she liked to read. Ian in contrast was fond of going to the pub, not everyday- he didn't drink too much but he enjoyed the company and was more a social drinker than anything. He'd tell Barbara all about what the staff had got up to on Monday mornings when she'd missed out on all the gossip when the other teachers had been on a night out together. Barbara was fond of the drink herself though. She liked a glass of wine but preferred to drink in small groups or on her own, especially when she was at home with a large pile of marking to do. She also wished they had a bottle of wine with them during their sleep over at the school!

"Well I'm glad you decided to work here," Ian said as he made himself comfortable on his mat. "Sometimes it can get a little lonely and Mr Ellis the previous history teacher wasn't half as fun."

She raised her empty cup into the air. "Thank you. Well, here's to us."

He followed suit and raised his cup. "To us! The teachers too stubborn to admit defeat and leave when everyone else was."

"I suppose there's a sense of adventure in me I never realised I had."

"We all rise to the challenge when we're up against it."

Barbara laughed and then pulled out a jar of cocoa powder from the bag of supplies she'd collected.

"How about a nice cup of cocoa before lights out?"

"Sounds a treat." Ian waited for Barbara to do the honours with the cocoa and the cups and then he got out a pair of science tongs. "Are there any marshmallows in the supplies from the kitchens?"

Barbara rummaged around and pulled out a small packet of miniature marshmallows. "You're in luck."

She handed them to him and they made their cocoa together, laughing and joking as they each held a pair of tongs and tried to toast miniature marshmallows over a flame.

"It's a good job we didn't have to make a real fire," Barbara said. "All that rubbing sticks together lark. There's roughin' it and then there's really roughin' it."

He agreed and tasted the cocoa. He smiled playfully. "You know I believe in some cultures preparing a drink like this together might be considered a romantic declaration."

"And you'd be right that in some places it does. Of course in our case it's considered a matter of urgency. Warm drinks stop my hands from freezing."

"What now?" he asked after a few moments of awkwardness, slurping drinks and small talk.

"Time for bed of course," she said. "Granted nine-thirty is on the early side but it makes sense to try and get some rest. We don't know what tomorrow will bring."

Ian smiled. "No we don't, do we?"


End file.
